Fastest spider in the world? This huge, hairy-legged Australian arachnid may be the quickest on the planet
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- Brown huntsman spider (Heteropoda jugulans) reached a peak speed of 3.59 m/s (13 km/h), the highest among more than 250 spider species analyzed in a study led by scientists in the UK and Germany.
- Dr Christofer Clemente of the University of the Sunshine Coast contributed prior research on spider locomotion, which included data from common backyard spiders in Queensland, revealing their unique hydraulic limb extension mechanism.
- Dr Jonas Wolff of the University of Greifswald co-led the broadest comparative study of spider running speeds to date, finding that body mass has a mechanical threshold beyond which speed declines.
- Huntsman spiders use a combination of muscle retraction and hydraulic pressure to move, a locomotion method distinct from most animals, enabling rapid bursts despite their size.
- The study measured spiders from London, Greifswald, North America, southern Europe, and Australia, using high-speed cameras and gridded running tracks to standardize speed assessments.
- Despite its peak speed, the brown huntsman’s average sustained running speed is about 2 m/s, though this still ranks among the highest observed in non-web-building spiders.
Why it matters: The discovery identifies a biomechanical sweet spot in spider evolution where size and propulsion method maximize speed, offering insight into how locomotion constraints shape ecological niches. This changes how scientists understand arachnid movement efficiency, particularly in large, active hunters like the huntsman.
